Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga is set to explore the individuals, institutions and organisations who financed Britain's trade in enslaved Africans from its first tentative steps in the 16th century to abolition of the trade in 1807.

Based on exclusive access to the findings of a new academic research project, led by Professor William Pettigrew, this series follows the work of the research team who, over five years, built a new database; the Register of British Slave Traders.

The series paints a forensic portrait of the traders and investors and the vast and complex system of investment and profits they created. It shows where they lived, how much money they made and uncovers links between modern British institutions and the trade in enslaved people.

Twelve years ago, in the series Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners, David Olusoga explored the compensation paid to Britain's slave owners when slavery in the British Empire was abolished in 1833. This new series uncovers the identities and the back stories of the slave traders – the thousands of individuals and organisations who engaged in the trade in human beings.

Series details

• Title: Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 2026-09-21
• Final broadcast date listed: 2026-09-21
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: BBC iPlayer
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 59 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 94599
• TVDB ID: 482356

Cast and credited roles

• David Olusoga — Presenter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-09-21; final listed air date 2026-09-21; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from Finding Britain's Slave Traders with David Olusoga on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.